iPost readers vote evictions report top story of ’22

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Readers have selected I’Jaz Ja’ciel’s report on evictions as Investigative Post’s top story of 2022. 

Her Nov. 9 story, which also aired on WGRZ, not only reported on the large number of eviction warrants issued in Erie County, primarily Buffalo, but explained why. The reasons include Buffalo’s high poverty rate and meager government assistance for low-income renters.

Buffalo landlords are acting to evict tenants in greater numbers than any portion of the state aside from Brooklyn, according to data from the New York State Unified Court System. 

Judges have issued more than 3,700 eviction warrants this year in Erie County, primarily in Buffalo. That’s not just more than other upstate cities such as Rochester and Syracuse, but more than New York City’s other boroughs, including Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, all of which have much larger populations.

More than 1,000 involved tenants living in just two Zip Codes, 14215 and 14211, which comprise much of the Masten and University Common Council districts.

I’Jaz has a follow-up story that we’ll publish early this week.

The eviction story edged out a piece by Layne Dowdall, in which she reported that Buffalo is cutting down trees at twice the rate it’s plating them. In some East Side neighborhoods, up to four trees have been removed for every one planted.

Two other top vote-getters were Jim Heaney’s piece on the rise of the radical right in Western New York and Mark Scheer’s story on the hidden costs of housing the Buffalo Bills.

Here’s the full vote tally.

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This marks the ninth year Investigative Post has polled its readers for their favorite story. Other recent winners include stories by Phil Gambini in 2021 and 2020 on the contamination of local waterways by E. coli bacteria and how much money police misconduct is costing Buffalo taxpayers, and Marsha McLeod’s story in 2019 on discriminatory traffic ticketing in Buffalo.

Investigative Post staff